The Only Hope For Me Is You
by Rudeandgingerallonsy
Summary: Molly, not Fred, died at the Battle of Hogwarts, murdered by Voldemort himself after she killed Bellatrix. Ginny has to step up as Weasley matriarch, while dealing with her feelings about Ron, Hermione, Percy, and most importantly Harry, and work through the horrors she encountered while fighting for Dumbledore's Army. And, with the end of the war brings all new challenges, too.
1. Chapter 1 - Mum Is Dead

**A/N : All recognized plots/characters belong to JKR. Title after the My Chemical Romance song.** **Please R/R! :)**

Ginny stood silently next to her father and brothers, shocked to her core. She couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend her mother's white, lifeless body lying on the long table next to Remus and Tonks'. Her mother, her strong, beautiful, loving mother, was dead. She'd never hear Mum's voice calling them all to dinner…handing out chores…scolding the twins…whispering soothing words like only a mother could…Ginny felt herself choke out a sob, and raised her hands to her mouth, tears flooding. She fell to her knees, resting her forehead on the edge of the table, feeling sobs tear through her. She felt someone – one of the boys, probably – lean down next to her, wrapping her up in a hug, but the only person she wanted a hug from right now would never again give her one.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed there; eventually, her sobs quieted to a silent waterfall of tears and deep, shuddering breaths, and then stopped completely. She had never been one to cry for long. When the sun rose, bathing the hall in an unfittingly rosy glow, she sniffed, trying to compose herself. She stood up, her legs shaking from lack of blood as she did so. She felt her head spin at the sudden movement, but ignored it. She was strong. Mum would want her to be strong. She looked around for the first time, wiping the last few tears away.

Dad was sitting in a chair by Mum's head, staring at her in shock. He seemed void, emotionless; she felt her heart pull for him. Bill was standing nearby, stoking Fleur's hair softly, both watching her guardedly, as if expecting her to break down again. The rest of the boys were gone. She swallowed down her grief – the war may have been over, but the recovery was just beginning.

"Where is everyone?" She said, her voice hoarse and cracking.

"Outside," Bill said quietly after a moment. "People are arriving, to claim the..."

"Bodies," She said, her voice hard and cold. She stared over the room, at all of the fallen, those who had given their lives for the Light. It seemed so cruel, that they had made it so far, but didn't live to see the end. And more were dying, too, from injuries. She silently thanked Merlin that her mother had felt no pain. There were 72 dead so far, many of them her friends and members of her DA. It was a terrible end to a terrible war.

Someone had draped the bodies in thick, black sheets. Ginny tried to take a deep breath, and she noticed an older woman a few years older than her mother had been sobbing at Tonks' side. Recognizing her, gasping at her similarity to Bellatrix, Ginny felt her heart break yet again for the woman in front of her. Acting on impulse, she stepped towards the small brown-haired woman. She remembered the Potter Watch report saying that her husband had been killed by Death Eaters several months ago.

"Mrs. Tonks," She said quietly, but Andromeda didn't reply. Ginny hadn't really expected her to, and she kneeled next to the sobbing woman, wrapping an arm around her. She tried to think of something to say, but what could you say to a woman who had lost so much? So she just sat there, hoping her presence would be a small comfort, determined not to let this woman be alone. Yes, she'd have Teddy, but Ginny promised herself she wouldn't let this poor woman's family drop to only one other person. After several hours of whispering nonsense comfort to Andromeda, the older woman finally looked at Ginny, tears pouring down her face.

"I just don't know how I can carry on without her," Andromeda said, her voice shaky. Ginny felt her eyes fill with tears to at the thought of the woman she had considered her older sister.

"None of us do," She whispered. "But they would have wanted us to find a way." Andromeda nodded, smiling weakly.

"Your mother would have been so proud of you," She whispered, and Ginny gave her a watery smile of her own.

"I hope so," she whispered. "I really hope so."

Ginny walked down to the grounds with her family, staring at the ground. Charlie had an arm wrapped around her. Bill was supporting Dad, who still seemed to be in shock, while the twins followed behind, silent for the first time in their lives. Ron, as usual, was with Harry and Hermione, the three of them staring around at the destruction, the latter two looking uncomfortable, as if they were intruding. Ginny rolled her eyes. You'd think they'd have learnt by now that they were part of the family.

Kingsley had arranged a portkey for them, and as the ten of then held on to it, it was painfully aware that their matriarch was being left behind. When their feet hit the ground with a thump, they walked wordlessly into the Burrow's wards, staring at the house that they hadn't seen in almost a month, when they'd evacuated to Auntie Muriel's. The "golden trio" hadn't seen it in almost a year.

As soon as they entered the kitchen, Ginny decided she'd have to give the place a good scrub down. It was what Mum would have wanted, after all. She wanted to scrub away the pain of the war…but part of her was worried it would scrub away the memories of Mum. It was painful, standing in her kitchen, surrounded by memories of her, but Ginny pushed through it, focusing on the job at hand. She cast a scourgify charm over the room quickly, getting rid of the visible dust. It would have to do for now; at least she knew it was clean.

Dad had already disappeared upstairs, and nobody was sure of what to do. Looking around, Ginny decided that someone had to take charge. She was, after all, officially the Weasley matriarch now; Fleur could have stepped up to the position, but she wanted to be the one to follow in her Mum's footsteps, even though she no longer had any quarrels with her sister-in-law.

"Ron, go get vegetables from the garden. You two can help," She added to the twins, deciding that the three of them looked most uncomfortable. Everyone stared at her, and she got annoyed. "Now!" She snapped, and they exchanged glances, but did so without comment. "Someone needs to go strip all the beds and bring all the bedding down," She said, thinking out loud.

"I can do that," Hermione said, seeming anxious to help. Ginny smiled at her friend thankfully, and nodded.

"Thanks," she said, thinking of what else needed to be done. "All the windows need opening, and someone needs to make sure no doxies or boggarts or anything have moved in…and I guess we should get the ghoul out of Ron's room, too."

"I'll deal with the ghoul," Harry muttered, and Ginny looked at him for the first time since the battle, for the first time in almost a year. Her heart did the same flip-flops it always did when he was around, but it also clenched as the hurt and anger of their break-up and his leaving came to the surface. He looked so much different, but so painfully the same; his messy hair was even messier than usual, cut jaggedly and overgrown, and his extraordinary eyes showed wisdom and pain that made her heart ache. She desperately wanted to give him a hug and tell him it would all be alright, but she didn't know where things stood between them. She had missed him horribly, but she was still furious, and he hadn't forgiven him for the pain he caused her or his apparent lack of faith in her skills.

"I'll check the rest of the house," Charlie offered, and the two men went off upstairs.

"I'm going to check on Dad," Bill told her when they, Fleur, and Percy were the only ones left.

"And I will give zee bathrooms a queek clean," Fleur said. Ginny smiled at them gratefully, before turning to Percy, who looked vaguely uncomfortable but completely and utterly guilty and heartbroken. Ginny realized suddenly how horrible it must feel to have Mum die after you'd been so horrible to her for almost three years. She didn't know what to do to help, though. She hadn't forgiven him, but she couldn't bring herself to be mean.

"Could you help me, Perce?" She asked, and he nodded wordlessly, and got up to help her make dinner.

Ginny was standing outside, staring up at the moon, when she heard the door behind her open. She spun around, heart in her throat, wand out, when Harry stepped out. She let out a deep breath. "Sorry," She muttered, and he waved the apology off, coming to stand next to her. She turned her attention back to the sky, trying to ignore her racing heart.

"Ginny," Harry whispered, and before Ginny could fully comprehend what she was doing, she pulled Harry down to her and kissed him. He seemed shocked, but after a moment he kissed her back, wrapping her up in his arms.

"I'm still mad at you," she whispered breathlessly, pulling away from him, and staring into his emerald eyes. "For leaving, and for being dead, and…and for everything."

"And I'm still mad at you for being at the battle and for not staying safe," He said in a low voice, staring straight back at her.

"Fine," She whispered, feeling her brain getting muddled under his gaze.

"Fine," He whispered back, before pulling her back to him and kissing her soundly.


	2. Chapter 2 - Planning For The Future

She didn't sleep that night. There was too much to think about, too many thoughts spinning around her head, to succumb to sleep, even without the nightmares that had plagued her nights for years now.

The final battle had been gruesome and gory. Lavender Brown's body had been mutilated by Greyback in front of her very eyes, and hers was one of many. After Voldemort's summoning of Harry into the Forest, she had run outside, hoping to find him and stop him, but the dying people, too far gone to hold on to hope, had stopped her. For what had felt like eons, she had tried to comfort and sooth the dying, and then she and others had unceremoniously tried to carry the corpses into the Great Hall. There were so many bodies; mutilated and torn apart by spells and actions alike, both before and after their former owners had meet their painful ends.

She still remembered the noises of the castle…the screams of pain, of anger…people screaming out spells, or warnings, or shouting the names of the people they loved in anguish...and the smells; the stenches of blood and death had filled the castles, seeming to hang in the air like smoke. Then of course the burning rubber smell of the fires, and the dusty broken stone and rubble, and the surreal smell of the grass from the lawn as people trekked in and out.

Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw death. She wondered vaguely if Harry ever felt this way. For months after he had rescued her from the Chamber back in her first year, she hadn't been able to sleep without her dreamless sleep potion. She had avoided her family, too, out of guilt and embarrassment. She pondered about why she didn't seclude herself now…she supposed because this was too raw. Being possessed, even by someone as vile as You-Know-Who himself, seemed like nothing compared to the last year, even though it was more personal, and more violating. She mulled it over, and realized it was because it had happened to her. It was easy to accept her first year rather than everything Harry had gone through over his lifetime; she understood it, and it happened to her. She was far more comfortable dealing with it personally rather than try to figure out how to act normally around people that were going through tough times but also be sensitive.

But, as selfish as it made her feel, it wasn't the Battle she was thinking about. It was her family. Her mother's death, yes, but she was consciously trying not to think about Mum. It was just…too painful. She wanted to face her Mum's death when she was ready to devote herself fully, both mentally and emotionally – Mum deserved that. So, she swallowed her guilt, and pushed it aside.

Her immediate concern was Dad. She couldn't imagine Dad without Mum; it just didn't make sense. Dad and Mum, Mum and Dad…they were a team. One didn't happen without the other. They just…didn't. As she lay in bed, she realized that Dad's life had just been turned completely upside down, even more so than her own. For the first time ever, he'd be living alone. Not immediately, of course; she'd be here, and even _if_ Hogwarts reopened, and then _if_ she decided to go back, she seriously doubted Ron would go back, and she was sure she wasn't the only one of her siblings who would be making Dad their priority.

She didn't like thinking about Percy's situation, how horrible must be feeling. She was afraid of being empathetic – it was just…icky. She felt sick, imagining walking out on her family, being such an ass for almost three years, and then barely reuniting with your family only for your mother to be murdered in cold blood in front of your very eyes. She decided to try to figure out a way to help Percy…but she couldn't think of anything. So, for now, she put that out of her mind, too.

She wondered if she'd ever find out what Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been up to over the last year. She wondered if it even mattered. They had left…but with good reason…but they could have taken her with them!...at least she had been able to help at Hogwarts…and at least she had spent the time she had with Mum. She'd always cherish that…But she deserved to go with them! She had done just as much in the last few years as Ron had! She was just as good at dueling! She groaned; it was too confusing. She had so many conflicting emotions, and she was too exhausted to work through it all. Physically, mentally…it had been a long three years.

"Gin – Ginny! Come on, it's time to wake up," Charlie was saying, and Ginny shot upright, grabbing her wand from the bedside table, breathing heavily. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep. She nodded to Charlie, who smiled sympathetically at her and then walked out of her room. She fell back in the bed, trying to slow her breathing. She stared around the room, now bathed in sunlight, despite the thin pink curtains. It seemed so innocent, so naive; the pale pink walls, the posters of Gwenog Jones and the rest of the Holyhead Harpies. It seemed stupid, how defensive she had gotten when she had defended the all-girls team to her brothers. It had seemed so important, proving girls were just as good as boys. What did it matter now?

Her bedding and her pillows were pink, too, with little pale purple and yellow flowers. Her parents had always been so excited to finally buy girl things; they must have been disappointed when she would come in just as muddy and dirty as the boys.

The room was small, though that didn't really bother Ginny anymore. Her bed was pushed against the wall farthest from the door, and a wardrobe against the adjoining on, across from the window. She had a desk in front of the window, overflowing with various pieces of parchment, broken quills, and old textbooks. She forced herself out of bed, ignoring the familiar ache that came with little sleep and not eating well, and flung open the crooked doors of the wardrobe. She leafed through the various shirts, shorts, and dresses, sighing angrily. None of these clothes would fit anymore, and second-hand clothes like hers didn't hold up well under tailoring charms. Giving up, she grabbed an old dress, deciding in was in good enough shape. She slung it over her arm, grabbing some underwear too, and went crossed the hall to the bathroom, which was thankfully empty. She locked the door (a lesson learnt long, long ago) and striped off her clothes from yesterday, stepping into the shower. Since she was the last on up, there was – of course – no hot water left. Trying to ignore the freezing cold, she cleaned herself up as quickly as possible (shaving for the first time in weeks, after deciding she needed a new beginning), and jumped out. She cast a quick warming charm on her towel, wrapping it around her gratefully. She noticed she had managed to knick her legs several times, and swore quietly. Healing herself, she toweled off and pulled on her clothes. She brushed her teeth, half-heartedly ran a brush through her long hair.

Throwing her dirty clothes in her room, not really caring where they ended up, she went back downstairs. Everyone else – even Dad, though he didn't seem very present mentally – was seated around the kitchen table, talking quietly. When she sat down in the middle of the twins, Bill nodded to her and stood up to speak.

"We need a plan," He said, and everyone quieted to listen to him.

"Yes," came Dad's hoarse voice. Everyone turned to stare at him in surprise. "We do." Dad cleared his throat. "Mum and I talked about what would happen if…if what happened happened," He said. Ginny was glad he was speaking, but she almost wanted him to stop – his voice seemed cold, dead. He seemed to want to say more, but nonetheless fell silent.

"We need to plan Mum's funeral," Bill said, and the pain in his eyes and voice was obvious. Fleur reached out and held his hand, and Ginny saw him squeeze it gratefully.

"It should be here," Ginny said. She had been thinking about it, and it just didn't feel right for Mum to be buried in the Ottery St. Catchpole cemetery. They barely ever went into the town. Mum was the Burrow, and the Burrow was Mum; it was only right. "It's not…it should be here." She turned red as she noticed everyone staring at her.

"Gin's right," Fred said, and Ginny sent him a grateful glance as he put an arm around her.

"Yeah, Mum should be buried here," George agreed.

"It's what she'd want," Fred pointed out.

"She was always happiest here," Charlie murmured in a low voice. "Around her family." Dad nodded once, though Ginny saw his eyes were full of tears. Percy and Ron nodded their agreement too, and Hermione and Harry looked comfortable, and Fleur was smiling softly. Bill nodded.

"When?" He said, and everyone was silent.

"Thursday is the seventh," Ron put in out of nowhere. With everyone else, Ginny turned to stare at him, and Ron turned red. "And there's seven of us…" Ron muttered, and Bill cleared his throat.

"Sure," He said quietly. "The seventh sounds…that works." There was silence in the kitchen as everyone tried to come to grips with the fact that this was real; they were burying Molly Weasley. She was gone.

"We'll bury her in the flower garden," Dad spoke up, his voice still heavy with his loss. "In the morning."

"Andromeda told me that Remus and Tonks were going to be buried in the muggle cemetery where she lives. It's were Ted is, and since the wizarding world never really welcomed Remus anyway…" Harry trailed off, turning pink as everyone turned to look at him.

"Did she say when?" Charlie asked. "I'd like to be there." Ginny remembered suddenly that Tonks had been Charlie's friend back when he was at Hogwarts. They'd had been close like Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but more like her and Colin… Colin, who was dead too. Ginny swallowed the lump in her throat. How many people had died through the war? Tonks was like her sister…hopefully, she hadn't seen Remus die. That would have broken her heart. But maybe she had; maybe poor Teddy's parents had seen each other die and known their soon would be left an orphan. It must have been terrifying for them; the ultimate torture. Ginny swore to herself that Teddy would grow up loved.

"Saturday, I think," Harry said. "I'm going too."

"Me too," Ginny said immediately.

"We'll all go," Dad said, cutting off everyone else's agreements.

"Lavender Brown's funeral is on Sunday," Hermione said quietly. "Her parents told me before we left. I think we should go, Ron."

"Why?" Harry said in confusion. "They broke up ages ago. Doesn't she, like, hate him?" Hermione thumbed him on the back of the head, and Ginny smiled despite herself.

"Because it'd be nice for him to go pay his respects, even if they did break up," Hermione scolded her friend. "And even though we were never close, we did live together for six years."

"I think you should go," Ginny said, nodding her head. Hermione smiled at her support, and nodded. Ron shrugged. "Colin's funeral is that day too."

"Creevey?" Harry said, sitting up straight. She nodded, and Harry paled. The next half hour consisted of the rather morbid conversations of whose funeral was when, until eventually they all fled the grief and disappeared to various parts of the house. Harry had gone out for a walk, and with Hermione's encouragement Ron followed him.

"I think I should go to muggle London," Hermione said as both girls sat down on Ginny's bed. Ginny waved her wand, and a camp bed appeared in its' usual place. Hermione had always slept in her room, and the girls had become close friends over the years.

"Why?" Ginny said, surprised. Hermione shrugged.

"I need to buy some clothes. At the very least, something black. I don't really have anything appropriate for…" Ginny nodded in understanding, staring at her closet of too-small clothes.

"Me neither," she muttered. She glanced at the clock on the wall; it was almost noon. "We should go make lunch," She said, though she didn't feel very hungry. "None of my brothers know how to cook." Hermione laughed, but it sounded empty, strained. As they walked downstairs, Ginny wondered if they'd ever recover from the war.


	3. Chapter 3 - Fresh Starts

**SO SORRY it took me so long to update - school had been insane! I have (no exaggeration) 8 hours of homework per night. BUT, I promise, once this gets 15 reviews, I will stay up until 3 am if it means getting the next chapter up. Thanks guys!**

After she had made lunch (which no one ate much of – food reminded everyone too much of Mum, and her absence from the table, telling them all to keep their elbows off the table, was far too painful to ignore), Ginny gathered up the dishes by hand. Technically it was the only way she was allowed to do it, since she was still underage, but she had been ignoring the underage magic laws for ages now, deciding that with the hell she'd gone through she deserved to accio her jumper over. She was as mature as any seventeen year old anyway. But the mundane task of cleaning and drying and putting away served as a way to keep her hands – and more importantly, her mind – busy, so she did it anyway. Once everything was back where it belonged, she looked around helplessly, desperate not to be left to her own thoughts.

The Burrow held signs of being abandoned in such a hurry; no charms to keep the dust away had been cast, forgotten in the lieu of the wards set up to try in vain to make sure there was a house to come back to. Everything needed cleaning, and a simple charm may make something look clean, but it didn't always feel that way. Yanking her hair up into a ponytail, Ginny decided to clean everything from top to bottom. The rest of the afternoon passed with her clearing out the pantry and kitchen of anything expired or spoilt, scrubbing the floors, counters, sink, and table, and was just washing her hands and face to get rid of the soot from completely cleaning out the large fireplace for the first time in years when Ron walked in.

"What are you doing?" He said, frowning, and Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Washing my hands," She said, shaking her dripping hands and grabbing a towel to dry them with. _Towels_, she thought to herself, and grabbed her wand of the counter, summoning the large silver wash bin from one of the cabinets. She grabbed all the towels from their drawer and various hooks (summoning a 'towel' would have brought every single towel in the Burrow flying towards her) and dumped them all in the basin. Ron spoke again just as she grabbed the pot of washing powder from by the sink.

"Why are you cleaning?" He said, and Ginny bit back a sharp reply. Apparently, Ron was being even more dense than usual, and didn't understand she didn't want to talk to him. She let out a disappointed breath as she took the lid off the pot; the powder was all hardened and clumped. Grabbing a spoon, she answered Ron without looking at him.

"I just wanted something to take my mind off everything," she muttered, stabbing the pot's contents in frustration.

"Oh," Ron said, falling silent. Ginny spooned a few clumps into the wash bin, casting aguamenti towards it and watching it fill up with bubbles. Another quite charm meant they'd wash themselves, and as she sent the pot soaring back to its place Ron spoke up again. "Do you need any help?" Ginny groaned quietly. Company was defiantly _not_ something she needed. But it didn't seem fair to deny Ron the escape work provided and just hog it all herself.

"No, thanks – but you could do the gardening if you want; you know, getting the vegetables and stuff," She said, seizing the first outdoor activity (after degnoming) she could think of. Ron nodded, looking relieved to have something to do.

"Yeah, okay," He said, glancing out the window. It was almost dark enough for everyone to pretend to go to sleep and lay in their beds, staring at the ceiling until the sun came up. "Bill and Fleur go home?" Ron said, obviously trying to avoid an awkward silence.

"Yeah, they said they'd be back tomorrow. Charlie's in his and Bill's old room, the twins are in theirs' until they get their flat sorted out, and I'm not sure what Percy's doing," She said, repeating the various snippets of conversations she had been involved in since the family meeting earlier that morning. "What's Hermione doing? And Harry?" She said, pretending not to be desperately needing to know.

"Dunno," Ron said, rubbing his nose. "Staying here for a while, I think…Mione's parents are in Australia, so she doesn't have anywhere else to go, really, and Harry…"

"Australia?" Ginny repeated, bewildered. Who left their daughter in a country at war and just went to Australia? Even if they were muggles, surely that was incredibly immoral? "What in Merlin's name are they doing there?"

"She obliviated them – they don't remember her. Changed their names and everything," Ron said, and Ginny's eyes grew wide, and her jaw fall open. She couldn't imagine going through the past few years without Mum and Dad. She couldn't imagine how scared Hermione must have been. "Anyway, I best be going," Ron said uncomfortably, realizing he had just revealed a little-known fact. Ginny nodded, her mind still swimming with this new information, and Ron slid out of the room. _Merlin._

* * *

Waking from a pitiful excuse for sleep the following morning, Ginny got up and went downstairs. Out of habit, she flicked her wand at the kettle, and it settled onto its hook by the fire. The sun hadn't risen yet, but she had given up on sleep; either she lay wide awake or she had horrible nightmares. All of their potions were out of date; she'd have to pick up ingredients to brew some dreamless sleep potion. They could all do with a nice, uninterrupted nap.

She sat in the cold kitchen, shivering as she waited for the fire to warm her up. She could have cast a warming charm, but the cold tile on her bare feet was oddly comforting. She wore an old Holyhead Harpies t-shirt and a pair of old shorts. She rarely wore anything this short, but for sleeping it didn't really matter.

Lost in thought, she almost didn't hear the high-pitched wail of the kettle, but managed to get it off the fire before it woke up the entire house. Making herself a cup of tea, she wrapped her hands around the warm mug, staring into space. Why was everything so complicated now? Wasn't everything supposed to go back to normal now he war was over? Then again, what even was normal? She'd never felt normal since Riddle's Diary back when she was eleven.

"Ginny?" She jumped, sending the cup flying across the table and dropping to the floor with a thunk. Percy waved his wand, and the cup repaired itself, and the spill cleaned itself up. "Sorry, I didn't intend to scare you," he said sympathetically.

"No, sorry, I should have been expecting it," Ginny said quietly, fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt.

"Why are you awake so early?" Percy asked, looking concerned. Gin shrugged.

"Couldn't sleep…how about you?"

"I'm going to the ministry today," He said, and Ginny's head jerked up, her mouth falling over. She had not expected that.

"What? But the war's barely done! The funerals haven't even happened yet!" She cried, growing angry. Percy was supposed to have changed!

"I know, but it's my duty to – Ginny, don't look at me like that! I have a duty to try and help fix the ministry! They need me!" Percy insisted angrily, flushing. She rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Whatever," she said angrily, standing up, her chair scraping against the floor with a horrible screeching sound.

"It's not just me – Fred and George are going back to work today, too!" Percy shouted after her, but she ignored him, stomping up to her room and slamming the door. How could they all just go back to work, like nothing had happened? She sighed, throwing herself on the bed. She desperately needed something to distract her from thinking. She lay on the bed for hours, just watching the sun rise, keeping her mind blank.

She saw a black figure on a broomstick swooping through the sky, and shot upright, drawing her wand and pointing it through the window, heart racing. She was about to shoot a stunning spell when she recognized the messy black hair – it was Harry. He must have borrowed one of the brooms in the broom shed. She sighed, mentally shaking herself. Turning to her room, she searched desperately for some distraction. Her eyes fell on her overflowing closet, and she thought of her Mum's words from last summer: _"Really, Ginny, it's about time you sorted out what you still want and what's too small. You have so many clothes that we could donate to the charity shops…"_ Standing up, she flung open the closet doors, and set down to work.

* * *

By lunch time, she had sorted through all her clothes. She had a pathetically small "keep" pile, and a giant "throw" one. She couldn't remember the last time she had sorted out her clothes. She also had a pile of clothes to be boxed up and sent to the attic; mainly sweaters and dresses made by her Mum, things she just couldn't get rid of. It was too fresh, too painful.

She conjured a box for those items, and folded them all in it neatly. It felt oddly satisfying, sorting out the clothes; like she was sorting out memories from the war. This was fresh, new, like her new life would be. She put the box just inside her doorway, making a mental note to take (or banish) it to the attic later, and then conjured some more boxes for the things she was getting rid of. She stacked those against one of the walls, figuring she'd probably be finding more stuff to donate at some point.

She went back downstairs, and absent-mindedly made some sandwiches for lunch. Ron was outside in the garden again, this time with Hermione, Harry was still flying, the twins and Percy were gone, and she wasn't sure where Charlie was. Dad was still locked up in his room.

Looking through the cabinets, trying to figure out what to make for dinner, Ginny realized they were running horribly short on many food supplies. Everything was either empty or out of date, and even the small amount of food they did have wouldn't last long. She conjured a large bin bag, and started throwing away everything that was beyond use. By the time she was done, the kitchen was emptier than she'd ever seen it, but it still felt good to do, just like it had when she'd cleaned out her closet. She looked around for something to do next.

"The pots and pans," she muttered aloud to herself, and waved her wand so that all the old pots flew into the wash basin, which with another flick of the wrist filled with warm, soapy water. As she got everything washed and then dried, she hung up the now-shining pans, and smiled. Slowly, she was getting the kitchen back up to a standard Mum would have been proud of. Tomorrow, she'd go shopping for food. She started making soup for dinner, quite pleased with herself for the progress she made today.

She thought suddenly about Percy and the twins, wondering if they'd be home for dinner. The work she'd done today made her feel guilty about the way she'd spoken to Percy; she'd made him feel bad about doing the same thing she was. And maybe, just maybe, fixing the ministry was his way of trying to make amends. Deep in thought, she didn't hear Harry's footsteps as he returned, and she jumped when the door opened.

"Sorry," he muttered, moving to disappear up the staircase.

"Harry," she called after him, and he stopped, turning around to meet her eyes. She stared at him, not quite sure what to say. _Dammit, Ginny!_ She thought to herself. _Now you look like an idiot._ "I…Percy went back to work today," she told him lamely.

"I noticed," Harry said in a low monotone.

"So did the twins." She wasn't sure why she was telling him these things; she just didn't want the conversation to end. She didn't want him to walk away and cut her out again. Harry just nodded. "I cleaned out my closet." _Oh, fantastic, Ginny. What the bloody hell is wrong with you? _She felt herself go pink.

"Okay," Harry said, raising an eyebrow, the ghost of a smile on his face. Ginny smiled, relieved to see even the hint of happiness on his hollow face. He opened his mouth, as if about to say something, when Ron and Hermione's voices came through the doorway. Ginny looked out the window to see them walking up from the garden, and by the time she turned back she saw Harry's heels as he hurried up the stairs, and she sighed in disappointment. Well, at least she wasn't the only one he was avoiding.


End file.
